1964 - The Year Oriole Magic Began

It was 1966 and the upstart Baltimore Orioles were heavy underdogs in the World Series. The National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers were led by future Hall of Fame pitchers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. The Birds were given little chance.

The O's jumped on Drysdale early in Game 1 and went on to win 5-2. Then Orioles Magic began. Our own future Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer threw a gem in Game 2 - beating Koufax with a complete game shutout! The Orange & Black headed back to Baltimore with new found hope.

Game 3 featured a match-up between 2 young hurlers. Claude Osteen got the start for the Dodgers and Wally Bunker took the mound for the Birds. The pitching mound had already been dubbed "Bunker Hill" after Wally's stellar rookie season in 1964. A solo home run by O's center fielder Paul Blair in the 5th was all Wally would need as he went on to a three-hit complete game shutout. His masterpiece was all the Birds needed to propel them to an incredible sweep of Da Bums when Dave McNally finished off the Series with yet another complete game
1-0 shutout. The Dodgers pitching was very good. The Orioles were better!

Wally Bunker is making the rounds in Baltimore this weekend including a stop at the DugoutZone on Sunday. His appearance started me thinking about the construction of the great Orioles teams of the 60's & 70's. Wally Bunker was the first of many great young pitchers to arrive in Baltimore. He turned in a remarkable rookie season in 1964 - going 19-5 and finishing 8th in the AL MVP balloting. Nine year veteran teammate Brooks Robinson produced his finest complete season in a remarkable 22 year career and won the '64 AL MVP Award.

Two years later the Orioles would add more young pitching talent (Palmer, McNally) to a solid nucleus and a key aquisition in Frank Robinson. That core formed the most dominant franchise in baseball for the next ten years. This model of young talented pitching built around a core of solid veteran position players solidified by a key acquisition has become the blueprint for successful teams. Can someone send a copy to the Yard?